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(meteorobs) July 1 Observations



-- [ From: Robert Lunsford * EMC.Ver #2.5.3 ] --

I watched for slightly over 4 hours this morning from the Descanso
Observatory with George Zay. This is the first time George and I have
had an opportunity to watch together this year. I get the feeling that
he would rather have had me stay home as I was seeing much more activity
than him. I usually manage to catch a few more than George but on this
morning the activity seemed to be just out of his view. He was usually
facing halfway up in the east while I was looking a bit higher. I
counted a total of 55 meteors. 10 were from an active Sagittarid radiant
and there were a possible Cetid and a June Bootid. No activity was noted
from the Tau Aquarids. Plotting revealed a possible radiant near the
star Zeta Pegasi which produced 6 swift meteors. I will also be out
tonight to try to verify this activity. The highlight of the session was
a dim meteor that faded in and out while travelling some 30 degrees from
southern Lacerta through the "Water Jar" in Aquarius. It never was any
brighter than 3rd magnitude but was very interesting to watch during its
3 second appearance. 

July 1, 1998

0716-0821 UT   1.00   6.54   5 SAG   5 SPO   10 TOTAL

0822-0926 UT    1.00   6.56   1 SAG   10 SPO    11 TOTAL

0927-1030 UT   0.95   6.63   3 SAG   12 SPO   15 TOTAL

1030-1130 UT   0.90   6.60   1 CET   1 JBO   1 SAG   16 SPO   19 TOTAL


TOTALS         3.85   6.58   1  CET   1 JBO   10 SAG   43 SPO   55 TOTAL

The first column is the period watched in Universal Time (PDT+7 hours).
The second column is the percent of an hour actually spent watching the
sky. Time is lost for breaks, plotting, and data entry. The third column
is the average limiting magnitude during this period with a minimum of 4
estimates per period. The last columns list the activity seen during
each period.

I was facing east at an altitude of 70 degrees. No breaks were taken
during this session. CET = CETIDS (DMS),  JBO = JUNE BOOTIDS,   SAG =
SAGITTARIDS, and SPO = SPORADIC (random activity) 

Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 47 F (8 C)   64%

Ending Temperature/Relative Humidity: 42 F (6 C)  77%

MAGNITUDES:

CET   0 (1)   AVERAGE: 0.00

JBO   3 (1)   AVERAGE: +3.00

SAG  -1 (1)   0 (1)  +1 (2)   +2 (2)   +3 (4)   AVERAGE: +1.70   

SPO  -1 (1)    0 (2)  +1 (3)   +2 (8)   +3 (15)   +4 (13)   +5 (1)  
AVERAGE: +2.79   


Bob Lunsford

San Diego, California USA